Alan Sinfield once distinctively theorised both the New Left generally and liberation movements individually as subcultures, but regarded these positively in the context of the defeats the Left had suffered during the 1980s.

The recent emergence of culture wars directed against a ‘new elite’ appears to mark a resurgence of the social conservatism of that decade after, and in response to, what Professor David Alderson has called a ‘diversified dominant’ under neoliberalism.

Perhaps, though, we need to break from the strategies of the past? The argument of Professor Alderson’s inaugural lecture is that subcultures have had a mixed record of success, but that they are ultimately poor vehicles for a transformative politics.

A more promising agenda would be one that emphasized the values of freedom and responsibility, and the relations between them.

The lecture will focus on film, poetry and fiction as these relate to the Left's fortunes.